MEDICINE ON THE MOVE
Doctors prescribe walking and education with new program
POTTSTOWN » Pottstown Hospital – Tower Health invites the community to take their medicine while on the move with a new walking program.
Medicine on the Move is a walk and talk event where peoplemeet physicians at a localpark to discuss important health topics while engaging in physical activity at the same time.
Casey Fenoglio, PottstownHospital community wellness program manager, said the program is the result of a 2018 community needs assessment. From the assessment, the hospital learned the community had a great need for chronic disease prevention and management.
“We wanted to get creative and come up with a program where we could be outside and that we could practice social distancing, but also still address that chronic disease prevention and management piece,” Fenoglio said.
Pottstown Hospital is launching Medicine on the Move this fall as a two-week pilot program. All participants will practice social distancing and be asked to wear a mask.
“We’ll be providing pedometers to all of the participants so they can track their steps as they walk and also hopefully continue to track their steps to engage in physical activity, even after the program ends,” Fenoglio said.
Fenoglio said an additional goal of the Medicine on the Move program is to make community members aware of local, free resources they can use for physical activity such as parks. She said residents may not always know about the trails and walking paths available in their area.
“Walking in your neighborhood is always good but sometimes that gets a little mundane and boring,” she said.
Pottstown Hospital plans to do a more comprehensive version of the Medicine on the Move program in the spring. The hospital will highlight different parks and recreational opportunities in Pottstown, as well as in sections
of Chester and Berks Counties.
Before the community walks toward health, a physician or pro
vider will give a small presentation on a disease topic.
“Being an emergency depart
ment; we get a lot of patientswho come that may be experiencing stroke symptoms. We alwayswant to educate patients that if they’re experiencing any of the symptoms of a stroke that they need to come to the emergency department immediately. Time is of the essence,” said Dr. Lori Lorant-Tobias, medical director of the emergency department at Pottstown Hospital.
She saidmany patients are opting to stay at homeduring theCOVID pandemic rather than receive medical attention because they’re fearful of getting sick.
“But we want our community to know that we are here, we are open, we are operating in safe, healthy ways,” Fenoglio said.
Fenoglio said some peoplemay have non-emergent symptoms such as a common cold which they can get help at an urgent care or their primary care provider.
The next event of the Medicine of the Move program will take place on Oct. 24 from 10 to
11 a.m. at Pottstown Riverfront Park. Dr. Jean Seda-Lopez, medical director of hospital services at Pottstown Hospital, will discuss diabetes and hypertension. He is bilingual in English and Spanish.
Fenoglio said the needs assessment conducted in 2018 revealed twomain themes. One themewas lack of access tohealthy foods and the other theme was a high obesity and overweight rate throughout the community.
“Both of those factors can play a role in diabetes so we always want to provide education to the community about ways we can reduce our risk for diabetes and hypertension. One of those ways is through physical activity,” she said.
Medicine on theMove sessions are limited to 25 spots. People can register online at bit.ly/PottstownMedicineOnTheMove. People can also call Tara Kerrigan at 610-327-7297 or email pottstowncommunityhealth@towerhealth. org to register.